Date: January 20

When Life Is Expendable

The Point: Life is a gift from God we’re to protect and preserve.

Get Into the Study

Use the following information to introduce Question #1.

The DMV.org website has listed the “Top 10 Most Expensive Cars to Insure in 2018.” Topping the list is the Mitsubishi Lancer—the average annual insurance on these cars is $1,458. The Scion FR-S and the Dodge Charger come in at numbers 2 and 3. These cars make the rest of the top 10 list—Kia Optima, Dodge Challenger, Ford Mustang, Scion iA, Chrysler 200 2WD. The Scion tC and Nissan Maxima tied for the 10th spot, with annual insurance for these cars averaging $1,237.

Say: No doubt, we pay plenty of insurance money each year to protect our vehicles. Then call attention to Question #1 (When have you gone to great lengths to protect something of value?) and invite the group to respond.

Study the Bible

Use the following information to supplement Question #2.

In 2018, W. Kip Viscusi, an economist at Vanderbilt University wrote a book titled Pricing Lives, Guideposts for a Safer Society. In his book, Viscusi describes a system for putting a dollar value on a human life. The goal of his work is to make people and products safer, by putting a monetary value on a person’s life. The “value of statistical life” or VSL is Viscusi’s formula for determining the “dollar amount that people are willing to pay to avoid an expected death tied to a faulty product or job-related accident.” Based on Viscusi’s formula, the current value of a human life is $10 million. Government agencies use this VSL – $10 million – to set health, safety, and environmental regulations, that hopefully make our lives safer.

Say: While Viscusi might have a formula that puts a $10 million value on a human life, not everyone places a high value on life. Then call attention to Question 2? (What are some ways our culture devalues life?)

Video

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